long beach running club

I had a whole overview of the race including day before, warm up and updates by mile. Decided since I don’t think that many people care or even read this I’ll keep it short.

Goal was sub 1:30:00 and I was able to finish in 1:29:06! Strava result here. MIssed the first wave because I had to poop so I had to weave through the second wave in the first few miles! Super ecstatic about this finish! Can’t wait to see what this year holds more me!

That being said, I hit one of my goals this year of a sub 1:30 Half. My other goals for year are:

Long run for the week was a 20 miler. No workout, just a steady 10 miles at over 8min pace then 10 miles at around 7:45. Decided to use the Brooks Ghost 11 shoe which I’ve really taken a liking to. A comfortable shoe that has more drop (12mm) and a little heavier than I typically like but it’s just an all around comfortable shoe that’s good for tempo yet cushioned enough for long runs for me.

Weather showed morning rain/showers but temps were perfect at around high 50s. Rain started coming down in mile 6, started pouring around mile 8 through till about mile 14 or so and finally stoping in mile 16. It was my first time running in that much rain and it wasn’t so bad. You can check my Strava for today’s run here.

I used this run to continue figuring out my fueling plan for my second LA Marathon. Overall I feel it was a great run and was able to progressive the half splits while being able to pick up the pace a little in the last few miles.

Welp I did it. I ran my first marathon. After a 19 week training program with the Long Beach Running Club I can call myself I marathon runner. In the days leading up to to the L.A. Marathon I was nervous about hitting my goals that I had set for myself;

A. Finish in 3:50

B. Finish under 4 hours.

Whenever somebody had asked me what my goal for the marathon was my response was always “Sub 4.” I didn’t tell anyone about my 3:50 goal because I honestly didn’t know if it was realistic for me or not since with running anything over 18 miles in training I’ve had cramping issues and my pace slowed down quite a bit after that.

I hit by B Goal but not my A Goal. I thought I has done enough as far as being hydrated all week and on race day as well as proper calorie and salt replenishment but again the cramps started around mile 18 with things getting really bad halfway through mile 20. At this point there was a lot of walking and stopping to stretch out but keeping an eye on my watch and how much distance was left, I was sure would still hit my sub 4 hour goal. Knowing that at 17 miles in I had an average pace of 8:33 and sustaining that till mile 20 then losing 20 seconds of overall average pace int he last 6 miles is a little disheartening especially since those miles are predominately downhill.

Doing some more reading this week looks like it’s just a part of long distance running, my muscles may have not been used to the demand of 3+ hours of running and should have got in some more long runs or incorporated some weight training and better recovery practices. There are just so many variables to this that I still need to figure out.

Overall I am happy that I hit one of my goals and was able to share the whole experience with my family, friends and the thousands of strangers cheering along the route. Would I do this course again? I told myself no but there’s something inside me that knows I can better this time in the future. Don’t know why I didn’t get the two pictures that I wanted which was one of me after the finish by myself and one with my brother since’s he’s guided me along this journey… man I F’d up.

2017 is coming to an end and this year I made a change in lifestyle from sitting around at carshows on weekends to running. In June I did my first 5k, finishing and feeling like my lungs are going to explode… nearing to 190lbs in body weight it was definitely a challenge. Now I’ve dropped 30lbs, running has become very enjoyable and training for a marathon is not something I would have ever thought I would be doing.

Never would I have imagined that I would run for fun, running to the point where I actually feel good physically and mentally is not something that was ever on my radar. I’ve met some of the best people I know and they give nothing but encouragement to me and everyone around them. Thank you to @congruns for bringing me into the running world as well as @minimallmilers and @long_beach_running_club for pushing me along my journey to whatever my end goal is. I can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for me and my running journey.

How has everyone been? It’s been a while since I’ve posted. It seems as though my life has switched from predominantly cars to running and just being active in general.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of helping @lbrc with their aid station for the Long Beach Marsthon. Seeing our friends and other runners suffering with smiles was such a joy. The aid station was originally just intended for LBRC runners and friends but as it turned out, we ended up giving aid to pretty much all marathon runners! The fact that they were doing something epic was inspiring.

Witnessing all of this made me ask myself why am I not running? Why am I not participating? I really don’t have any excuses, I could have ran the half marathon if I had prepared myself but I guess I was content on running 5-6 mile distances. That weekend, that’s all going to change. I’ve registered for the L.A. Marsthon and with the help of my brother Cong (@congruns), the @MiniMall Milers and LBRC I’ll be able to finish it! The only person stopping me from doing this is myself!

I’ve been wanting to go on the Monday Hill Training run with the Long Beach Running Club for a while now. All the running that I’ve been doing has been flat for the most part and I’ve read that hill training really make you a stronger runner. This is a 4.5 miles run wiht various inclines and declines and boy was it tough. I actually had to stop and walk for a little because my heart rate was about to hit 180 and I definitely didn’t want that to happen. Big thanks to LBRC for letting me join, hope to make this one again soon!